UNESCO, as the lead agency for the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005-2014), is organizing expert consultations in the five UN Regions to collect positions on the development of an ESD programme framework after 2014 and prepare a final report on the DESD. In addition to the regional consultations, Member States and other stakeholders will have the opportunity to individually provide input for the post-2014 framework via a questionnaire to be sent out in January 2013.

In its 190th session, the Executive Board of UNESCO expressed “its preference for a programme framework as follow-up to the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development after 2014”. The Board requested the Director-General “to develop, in consultation with Member States, and in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, the proposal for a programme framework, led by UNESCO, which should cover at least the period of the forthcoming Medium-Term Strategy for 2014-2021.” Furthermore, the framework should “address education at all levels and in all forms, be based on a comprehensive sustainable development agenda, while also encouraging strategic focus and national commitment.”

The regional consultations contribute to ensuring a transparent, participatory preparation of the post-2014 ESD programme framework through collecting input from relevant stakeholders from all regions.The consultations seek to help:• identify priority areas for ESD activities post-2014;• identify ESD initiatives that could be scaled-up in a post-2014 framework;• identify key partners to involve in a post-2014 framework;• collect suggestions for the preparations of the UNESCO World Conference on ESD (10-12 November 2014, Japan).